Supremacist’s North Dakota takeover plot ends with guilty plea

By Matt Pearce

Los Angeles Times

As far as racial takeover conspiracies go, Craig Cobb’s idea to conquer part of North Dakota with an army of white guys has not gone according to plan.

First, the 62-year-old supremacist’s plot to overrun the tiny town of Leith with fellow supremacists — to buy up property and win a voting majority — was exposed in August by the Southern Poverty Law Center’s Hatewatch blog.

Then, awash with national attention (and battling health code violations), Cobb went onto a daytime TV show to take a DNA test. It revealed, in front of rolling cameras, that he was actually 14 percent sub-Saharan African.

After that disclosure apparently turned at least one of his fellow supremacists against him, Cobb, along with another ally, was arrested in November for marching through town with a gun and intimidating local residents while on an ill-advised armed patrol.

Now, Cobb is apparently abandoning North Dakota. After making a deal with the prosecutor Tuesday, Cobb pleaded guilty to one count of felony terrorizing and five counts of misdemeanor menacing.

The Bismarck Tribune reported that a judge ordered Cobb released for time served, on four years’ supervised probation, with Cobb planning to move his probation to Missouri so he can care for his mother.